Wednesday, October 29, 2008

France's Sarkozy: Obama an empty suit on foreign policy

As Emanuele Ottolenghi notes, Sarkozy's use of the term "arrogant" is interesting because Obama's (utterly immature) critique of U.S. foreign policy relies heavily on the notion that we have been "arrogant" in our dealings with the rest of the world. In fact, the reason Obama has advanced for engaging in talks with a series of anti-American dictatorships, not just Iran, is the need to overcome the perception that we are "arrogant."

"Arrogance" may be a useful concept for teenagers when they are explaining why they don't like certain classmates. The real lesson of Sarkozy's reported comments is how foolish it is to permit this concept to play a serious role in making foreign policy decisions.